Air Crew (film)
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''Air Crew'' (russian: Экипаж, Ekipazh, crew, link=no) is a 1980
disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...
directed by
Alexander Mitta Alexander Naumovich Mitta (russian: Алекса́ндр Нау́мович Митта́; born 28 March 1933 in Moscow) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and actor. Mitta's birth name was Alexander Naumovich Rabino ...
. Inspired by the ''
Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
'' movie series, it was the first
disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...
shot in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.


Plot

The first part of the film concentrates on the personal lives of the air crew, including their problems and relationships. For family reasons, one of the pilots has had to give up a promising career for a much less ambitious one. Despite this, his wife senses that he is not happy, which makes her a conflicted and angry spouse. Although both of them love their son, it is not enough to prevent them from divorcing. Subsequently, the pilot resumes his career piloting the large passenger planes he had been hankering after. One of his pilot colleagues does not believe in family at all – his flat is full of impressive self-constructed light effects and son et lumière equipment that he uses to impress the parade of women he has one-night stands with. The action-filled second half of the film sees the
Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian ...
Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
airplane landing in the fictional foreign town of Bidri, which appears to be located somewhere in a mountain region of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. Soon after, an earthquake destroys the city, and the damaged runway is no longer suitable for normal take-offs (another plane – a
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
– is shown crashing in the attempt). Still, there is no alternative to escaping by air, because the airport will soon be buried by an approaching mudflow. The experienced senior officer decides to take advantage of the fact that the airport was built on a mountain, so the plane will be able to descend rather than ascend as soon as it leaves the runway. Despite the "not ready for flight" warning lighting up on the dashboard, the plane successfully takes off at the last moment. The captain had first insisted on going through a speedy but complete take-off protocol, involving a check of the aircraft in accordance with the prescribed rules – perhaps in order to calm the crew by having them perform their normal tasks. During its take-off run next to the mudflow, the plane receives some serious damage when a runway light gets jammed in the elevators and a crack appears near the tail section. The two aforementioned pilots volunteer to repair the plane's tail and rudder. They come back inside the plane with severe injuries, and are covered with frost. This causes panic on board, but once again the captain manages to calm the situation, even asking one of the stewardesses to serve coffee as normal. During their landing in Moscow, the crew discovers that the brakes are functioning too poorly to stop the plane in the heavy rain. The captain orders his crew to turn on the
thrust reversal Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft ...
equipment, an action that rips off the tail and sends it up in flames. However, the rest of the plane stays intact, and all the people on board safely escape. When he is examined ahead of his next medical certification, the superannuated captain is refused permission to fly because of some heart problems. He is greatly upset at this, and does not demonstrate the same coolness and self-control that he had exhibited when in charge of the plane in which he crash-landed. All three of the main protagonists (the captain and the other two pilots) are depicted as being capable of behaving much more maturely under the pressure of an emergency than in everyday life.


Cast

*
Georgiy Zhzhonov Georgiy Stepanovich Zhzhonov (russian: Гео́ргий Степа́нович Жжёнов, ; 22 March 1915 – 8 December 2005), was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and writer. He is known for playing the spy Mikhail Tulyev in the "R ...
– Andrei Vasilyevich Timchenko, commander of the crew * Anatoly Vasilyev – Valentin Georgievich Nenarokov, co-pilot *
Leonid Filatov Leonid Alekseyevich Filatov ( rus, links=no, Леонид Алексеевич Филатов, p=lʲɪɐˈnʲit əlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ fʲɪˈlatəf, a=Lyeonid Alyeksyeyevich Filatov.ru.vorb.oga; 24 December 1946 – 26 October 2003) was a ...
– Igor Skvortsov, flight engineer * Aleksandra Yakovleva – Tamara, stewardess, Skvortsov's fiancée *Irina Akulova – Alevtina, wife of Nenarokov *
Yekaterina Vasilyeva Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vasilyeva (russian: Екатерина Серге́евна Васильева; born 15 August 1945 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. She performed in more than ninety films since 1967. Vasilyeva ...
– Anna, wife of Timchenko *
Yuri Gorobets Yuri Vasilievich Gorobets (russian: Юрий Васильевич Горобец; 15 March 1932 – 27 June 2022) was a Soviet and Russian theater and cinema actor. People's Artist of the Russian Federation (1993). Laureate of the State Prize o ...
– Misha, dispatcher (before decommissioning to the ground – co-pilot) *Alexander Pavlov – navigator *Galina Gladkova – Natasha, the daughter of Timchenko *Roma Monin – Alik, son of Nenarokov (voiced by
Klara Rumyanova Klara Mikhailovna Rumyanova (russian: link=no, Кла́ра Миха́йловна Румя́нова; 8 December 1929 – 18 September 2004) was a Soviet and Russian actress, voice actress and singer. She was active from 1951 to 1999. Her child ...
) *
Komaki Kurihara is a Japanese stage and film actress. She has appeared in 30 films since 1967. She starred in the 1974 film ''Sandakan No. 8'', which was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1975 she was a member of the jury at the 9th ...
– Kumiko Morimitsu, hostage from Boeing 727 of JAT airline *
Yelena Koreneva Yelena Alekseyevna Koreneva (russian: Еле́на Алексе́евна Ко́ренeва; born October 3, 1953, Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress, writer, film director and screenwriter. Yelena Koreneva starred in more th ...
– Nona, Skovrtsov's former mistress *Yuri Gusev – participant of the meeting on aircraft rescue *Vladimir Ivanov – surgeon *Gennady Matveyev – helicopter pilot, partner of Nenarokov *
Nikolay Smorchkov Nikolay Gavrilovich Smorchkov (russian: Николай Гаврилович Сморчков; 9 August 1930 – 7 March 2021) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. Biography Nikolay Smorchkov was born on 9 August 1930 in the village of Ivanko ...
– policeman at the airport *Alexey Yakubov – Kostya, father Natalia's child


Reception

It was watched by more than 70 million viewers, mostly throughout the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
where it won several awards.


See also

* ''
Flight Crew Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions ...
'' – a Russian film remake to ''Air Crew''


References


External links

* * * {{Alfred Schnittke 1980s disaster films 1980 films 1980s thriller drama films Soviet thriller drama films Russian aviation films Russian disaster films Films about abortion Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about divorce Films set in Russia Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Moscow Films shot in Crimea Films shot in Yaroslavl Oblast Mosfilm films Films directed by Alexander Mitta Films scored by Alfred Schnittke 1980 drama films Films about earthquakes Films about flight attendants 1980s Russian-language films